The Opportunity
by Hiccupisnotuseless
Summary: Possible Httyd 2 Spoiler Two years before he met the Riders, Eret son of Eret was one of the most important and incredible Trappers, always manging to do his work in the best way. and when Eret finds on his way one of those opportunities life rarely gives, he swears to himself he won't fail in seizing that Opportunity ... even if he has to face something like three Ghost Dragons!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everybody!**

**Here is Hiccupisnotuseless, came back from writer's block with another of his stories about the very beautiful movie know as "How to train Your Dragon"!**

**Some of you, here on fanfiction, know me because of my other works like "Remembering a Great Leader", or "The Tuffnut Zone", and "The Bad Side"!**

**I would like to thank all the readers and reviewers of those works, I hope sincerely you all like it, and that you'll be able to wait, because at the moment I don't feel like writing about those stories.**

**But this doesn't means I have no idea about other works! And for this, I am here to show you another story, set before the second movie (there could be some Spoilers, beware!).**

**The main character, sadly, won't be Hiccup, but another character I got interested with, or rather Eret son of Eret.**

**I thought about him, and so I had a new idea about a story that could tell something more about him before the movie, and how he trapped dragons.**

**So, without any other word, let' s take a look about what will happen to Eret in this story, that will be one of my first experiments about stories like this.**

**Hope it won't annoy you or make you feel bad for Eret (I do not hate him, but this is what could really happen to him before the 2d Movie).**

**Hiccupisnotuseless wishes you a good and entertaining read. Keep so, and be fine with everything!**

**I do NOT own Httyd or its characters, it's all related to DreamWorks and Cressida Cowell.**

* * *

The Thunderdrum kept its swimming, coming slowly up and down in the water, never touching the surface with its back, not letting any scale out of the water.

But this didn't mean anyone couldn't see it.

The blue dragon swam without hearing anything behind him, its eyes watching just in front of him.

The ship was really careful and slow, if it managed to not make any noise that could alert the Thunderdrum.

And the expert Dragon Trappers were really expert, at the point to not make any noise with anything on the ship so that any dragon could see them.

Their only hope was that the Thunderdrum wasn't part of a group of more dragons, so that they could attack him also easier.

It started as a normal and calm morning, with nothing that could make someone moan annoyed that day.

Another beautiful, exciting, hard, hopeful day for a crew of Dragon Trappers.

"It is not bigger than the others we met this week, Captain!",a blond haired man with yellow moustache, wearing a fur white vest and a fur green pair of pants, and with two big iron bracelets to his wrists, said.

"But it isn't even smaller than the others, Stonebutt!", was the reply of a tall and sturdy woman, with two brown long braids, and that was wearing a traditional, two horned Viking helmet on the head, and red a shirt and light brown leggings, covered partially by a leather skirt, and fur brown boots..

"This doesn't mean anything, Roughtooth! If not that we have another common and hard prey for our usual workday!", a young but loud voice yelled from the wooden bulwark.

The young man, around 21, stood firmly on the wood of the ship, his white vest and his brown pants totally wet due the violent shaking of the water, splashed on the clothes due the high waves made by the slow movement of the Thunderdrum's wings.

The entire crew reached where the others where, and soon the all the fifteen Trappers were watching carefully the spot where their reason of work was.

The young Captain studied carefully the big creature, his blue eye examining every single part of the dragon; he stood there, solid as a statue.

After ten minutes, he turned his head towards two of his crew's biggest men, and nodded firmly.

The two didn't lose a second, and ran towards the centre of the ship; after a few seconds, they came back, trailing two long and black metals after them.

The crew returned to look carefully at the sea; elegantly and slowly, the Thunderdrum kept is swimming.

Even if it could be considered craziness, some of the Trappers wondered what the beast was … _thinking _about … for not seeing the long and lethal ship near it.

Of course thinking that a dragon could think was surely the stupidest thing they could do … but actually reality sometimes makes mind do this.

They eventually forgot about all this, and returned to watch the water and what was inside it for other fifteen minutes.

They stood there, immovable like statues, the only moving part of their bodies were the eyes, observing the prey like hawks do.

Those eyes suddenly widened in surprise in the moment the water rose, and a big and blue scaly fury came from the water.

They all screamed in horror, needing to cover all their poor ears that were almost exploding in many little pieces due the loud yell that came from the dragon's round mouth.

The Thunderdrum had jumped from the water, and its orange little eyes watched cruelly the fifteen humans, rage burning in all his blood.

The dragon snarled, and then moved its wings, charging with all its fury the ship.

The fifteen Trappers lowered I the moment the reptile passed their heads, and then stood back again, watching fearfully the dragon grinning furiously.

And finally, the Captain gave the order.

"NOW!"

And then, the Thunderdrum's eyes widened terribly in the moment it saw four harpoons being launched through the air, very near its left wing.

The blue reptile dodged them ably, but he failed in noticing the chains attached to them. In fact, those four things weren't harpoons, but four kind like anchors, that came back to their owners, being pulled back on the ship thanks to four strange wooden cannons, from which started the chains where the anchors were attached were.

And so, , they were pulled up roughly ... stabbing the meat of the dragon, principally its belly.

Doing so, the poor dragon moaned hurtfully, and then its wings stopped to move, making it fall miserably in the cold water.

"YEAH!", Stonebutt, Roughtooth and other two Trappers yelled in joy.

"Bring it up! But try to not hurt it more!", the Captain exclaimed.

"It's like to say Elof to not eat so much cheese without getting fatter!", Roughtooth exclaimed with a mischievous smirk.

A smirk crossed her face and her ice blue eyes looked playfully at another mariner, a big man who with a fur black beard and two brown angry eyes, who was wearing a black armour, dark grey pants and two fur black boots.

Aside him, everyone else ignored the woman's comment, as all the concentration was on trying to defeat the swimmer dragon in the shortest time.

The entire back of the Thunderdrum was now visible, and the hurtful and furious growls of the beast were also making the atmosphere very hard.

Finally, the dragon was totally pulled out of the water, and the young Captain ran towards the bow of the ship, where three of his men were pulling out a big iron arched shaped thing.

"Hurry up with the muzzles! Hurry up!", he yelled, and started to help them to pull out it.

Then, they approached it to the board of the ship, ready to put it on the boat of the dragon.

The Thunderdrum rose the head and looked at the crew.

Its eyes tried to look more, but suddenly the pain in its skin increased, as the men who were grabbing the anchors started to turn its face towards the front of the ship, to put the muzzles in the moment the dragon's nose was in front of them.

When the Thunderdrum arrived nearer the board of the ship, its little round eyes finally noticed its attackers. And soon, its feelings were increased not just by the pain, but also by the rage.

"Keep so!", the Captain yelled.

The blue dragon finally arrived in front of the mariners, and they approached more the muzzles.

But instead of putting them where they wanted and so almost finishing their work, the dragon managed to open its mouth and to grab the muzzles, tightening them hardly with the teeth.

"What the he- ... tighten stronger!", the Captain yelled.

But the dragon's teeth were stronger, and kept to not lose the muzzles.

The Captain looked dumbfounded, before snorting irritated, and stepped back.

After a few seconds, he let out a war-like yell, and ran terribly towards the bulwark, and once he got there, his feet left the wood of the ship to let him jump through the air and reach the scaled back of the dragon.

"Stronger, guys! Let's show this thing we are stronger!", Roughtooth exclaimed, and the ones who were grabbing the muzzles worked more to pull it on the beast.

The Thunderdrum now was really shocked, but this only made him angrier, especially due the new weight on the back.

The brown aired Captain tightened more, his hands grabbing firmly the scales of the reptile.

After a while, he let one of his hands in the air, before approaching with them his belt; there, he took something, and finally took out something: a very well sharpened dagger.

"Aaargh! I wouldn't keep with this so much, you know?!", he yelled, before lowering the weapon on the dragon's forehead.

The dragon growled again, this time in absolute pain ...

The Captain's eyes widened in joy, and he took the occasion.

"Put the muzzles now! Come on!"

The dragon shook his head painfully and terribly, and took the muzzles again, tightening them more.

"This thing is harder than we thought!", a young girl with blond hair exclaimed.

The dragon started to move again, and soon all its body was moving, despite the anchors still in its skin.

The crew watched him carefully, trying to find soon a way to make it stop, and to make their Captain safe.

The dragon was like a big bull chained and hardly taken away to be killed and then eaten.

It was almost like the reptile was ... trying to ... free itself ... by ... but this was a too inventive thought.

"Come on!", the Captain yelled again from the back, grabbing it with the strength of a big Viking, despite his thin appearance.

Suddenly, the dragon let go the muzzles again ... and so ...

"Damn it ...", Stonebutt murmured, knowing perfectly what it was going to do, while the rest of his companions watched confused.

The dragon opened its mouth more and more and more, as if it was letting inside all the air around it.

The Captain watched it really confused, and after a few minutes, his eyes widened in realization and shock.

"Don't be stupid, a Thunderdrum cannot shot its roar if it is hurt so!", the young man yelled at the beast irritated and determinate.

But instead, it was like the Thunderdrum was going to do it.

"It wants to try it the same!", the girl with blond hair exclaimed.

The Captain shook his head, and soon rose again the dagger.

"_I wouldn't like to show damaged goods … but if I don't do it, who will offer this service again?"_, the young warrior thought, before approaching more the blade to the scaled skin.

But it didn't make it, because soon the scaled skin wasn't under his body anymore … and the poor Captain found himself floating in the air and then hitting with his nose the wood of his ship.

"You ok, Captain?!", Stonebutt asked worriedly, rushing to help the younger man.

The brown haired lad shook his head, and then watched with a shocked expression his companions trying to put an end to the impossible and difficult situation.

The Captain couldn't believe at it; he knew dragons were stubborn … but this …

Why would a dragon fight until death like a man? At this point, at least!

The crew stood at it without knowing what to do; the situation was totally incredible and shocking, one of the most dangerous and confusing of ever … but this didn't mean they were about to stop everything!

They were Dragon Trappers; and Dragon Trappers were meant to fight everyone and everything in the best way. Nothing could make them step back from anything their work could put in front of them.

The mouth of the dragon became bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until ...

The crew was slowly growing the fear, and due this anyone heard a soft noise in the air, like a shot arrow's ... but littler.

Suddenly, the Thunderdrum's mouth returned slowly to close, and the eyes of the dragon too.

The crew looked confused and dumbfounded by it.

How could the dragon be ... asleep, in a moment like that? Because it was sure, it was asleep, since they could clearly hear its soft breath.

Despite the anchors, that dragon managed to get calm so.

"Maybe it is dying ...", one man of the crew said.

"No! You know what that could mean?! It could be tired and confused, most likely!", another man said to the other.

Actually the Captain himself wasn't understand anything, but the worry in his eyes only grew, his heart hoping that nothing worst could happen and so marking a very bad way to end the day.

But above all, it was the first time he was seeing something like this, in front of him.

"Ehy Captain ... the ... the dragon ... is", one of the mariners that were grabbing the anchors said, but he was cut off by the noise the anchors made when they slipped from his hands, and fell in the sea alongside the Thunderdrum.

**Liked the first chapter? I hope yes. And not, the Captain is not who you think ... and the Thunderdrum is not Thornado! Sorry, but it is so. Besides, you couldn't like what happens to it in the next chapter, so ...**

**Hope you liked this, please say anything you want in a review. Advices about Grammar and Plot are REALLY accepted (I am not English or American, so ...)**

**Sincerely,**

**Hiccupisnotuseless**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hope this part won't be too boring!**

**I would like to thank all the ones who decided to favorite, follow and**

"Ehy!", the Captain exclaimed looking sternly at his crew.

"Sor ... Sorry, but ... it was too heavy now!", one of the mariners tried to explain.

The Captain looked sternly at him, and then returned to look at the dragon, that now was floating in the water without drowning ... peacefully sleeping.

"What the heck is happening here?", the Captain murmured to himself, scratching his forehead.

He knew many of the various dragons he was used to search and trap, and thanks to this he knew … in the absolute, perfect way how ALL the various dragons.

In all his years passed in trapping beasts, he learned on how to fight Deadly Nadders, Gronckles, Thunderdrums, and sometimes even Whispering Deaths and Timberjacks.

He was really good at searching the beasts that lived in the water, and so Thunderdrums were a very common race for the crew.

This means, they knew every scale of a Thunderdrum and how they could stay on that beast's body without being stabbed or hit by a blade.

And also, he knew about how a Thunderdrum would try to escape all the attacks and traps.

And aside of the famous and almost invincible roar, the Thunderdrum was also very fast, and very resistant; its teeth could easily leave a man with just half of the body … really.

Terrible and hideous creatures, of course, stubborn and strong as few were …

"This … is … strange!", one of the Trappers said, watching totally stunned.

"NO! I thought it was really common!", Elof replied, rolling his eyes annoyed.

Roughtooth shook her head, sighing. Then returned to look at the water, and said:-"Well, they are not wrong at all. It's the first time we see something so … uncommon! Especially for a Thunderdrum!"

The other trappers murmured in confusion and surprise between them.

"Maybe … we exaggerated … and it went simply tired!", a woman with black hair said.

"And fell asleep like a stone in the middle of a fight? No, there must be something other!", the Captain replied, still unsure.

The fifteen trappers stood there for other few minutes, feeling a strange anxiety coming over all their bodies.

Suddenly, Stonebutt exclaimed:-"Ehy, look there! Captain!"

The entire crew of trappers looked towards East, where the cliffs were.

And their confused and surprised looks grew more at the sight of what was there.

Another ship was coming towards them.

It had a blue sail, and it was half painted with blue on its side.

On the deck, they could see a group of six-seven men, and on the bow, looking probably at them, their Captain.

It didn't seem very big, just a bit more than theirs; it didn't seem a war-ship either, or something typical for a merchant.

But the shields attached to each side of the ship, and the long spears that appeared from the deck made the trappers think it could have warriors on it.

When the ship approached them more, from its bow a yell came.

"Hey there! I see we arrived at the good moment!", a male voice called.

And in the moment the ship approached more, the crew of trappers could see that on the bow there was a young man, probably about twenty-three years, with long black hair and two big and almost perfidious brown eyes, perfectly in tune with the smirk on his face.

He was wearing a yellow fur vest that was covering his sleeveless shirt and blue pants, and two big and fur armbands were covering his wrists.

Behind his back, they could clearly see a short sword attached to his vest, and leaning against his left leg another one, longer than the other.

When the new ship arrived in front of them, the young man said:-"I see that you don't really know so much about these big boys, right?"

The other crew looked confused.

"What?", their Captain said.

The black haired boy smirked more and said:-"I think that actually you are forgetting that a Thunderdrum can be dangerous in every moment, even if it was in a situation like it."

The brown haired Captain blinked again in confusion.

"You are lucky it wasn't on the deck, even if with the muzzles. If it didn't manage to free himself from that trap, he could use the tail."

"The tail?", the other Captain asked.

"Yes. And believe me, you don't want being whipped by a Thunderdrum's tail. Believe me.", the young man said again.

The other crew looked still confused, and their Captain couldn't understand anything about this strange situation.

"But who are you ... ehy!"

His eyes widened really shocked, once he noticed that the men of the other ship had thrown nets on the sleeping dragon, and it was being pulled towards them.

"Ehy, what the heck are you doing?! That's our Thunderdrum!", the brown haired Captain yelled.

The black haired Captain's smirk fell and he walked on his deck, saying seriously:-"No. Actually, we saw it before, so it is ours!"

"What are you babbling about? You came just now!", Roughtooth exclaimed sternly.

"No, it is not true. You see, actually we were following this Thunderdrum from this morning, when we saw it two nights ago. It had seen us, and so we had to follow him more slowly, to not make it notice us again.

It worked, since it seemed as if the dragon had forgotten about our ship. And this morning, we saw your ship coming nearer it.

So, since I had recognized a Dragon Trappers' ship, I decided to let you doing the work. If you managed to capture the dragon ..."

"... you'd take it from our hands, not doing anything! Scoundrel, hideous, little thief!", Elof yelled hideously.

The black haired Captain looked sternly at him, and then said with a huff:-"No ... I'd let you to take it. But since I clearly saw your ship was going to be drowned, I decided to intervene. And so, my dear friend Günter shot it with our special arrows!"

And nodded at a thin and tall black haired boy, around 21, who was wearing a blue sleeves fur shirt and green pants and boots with a bow in the hand and a bunch of arrows in the other.

"So ... you should thank me!", the black haired Captain said with a smile.

"You have no right to take our prey! We did all the work! And besides, what makes you think you can say us that we were going to drown? Who are you, ah?", the brown haired Captain exclaimed, rage boiling in all his blood now.

The other Captain turned to him, and a stern and serious look appeared on his face, as if he was going to say something really decisive and unexpected.

The black haired boy snorted softly, and walked towards the board of his ship.

Then, he put a foot on the wooden bulwark, and sighed heavily, before his deep voice let out the words in a way that meant "you'll never forget these words"

"I thought my face and my methods were already known in these places.

Oh well, nothing so serious to deal with.

I, gentlemen, am one of the bravest and most incredible trappers of all the area! I mean, I am not new nor old for a work like this. I can assure you I know my methods!

My work is always accepted and recognized as a good and clean, for sure! And ... well, I can say also that I am not someone that can be seen as a good and clean trapper, too!

I know what means fighiting and journeying all the day with, searching for beasts like these!

I am known from the North to the East lands! And my name ran for every land where dragons disappeared wihtout even doing too much to defeat us!

And many are the people that can assure my work and name never failed to do something such as cleaning an area from most of the burning lizard we see since they were toddler who couldn't even talk.

And rightfully, I did my best to make sure the work was did in the only possible and good way, because it must be done just in One way!

Because is for this that a trapper lives for! And believe me, I know what it means!

Yes, I am one of the few that can easily demonstrate that everything we do is an occupational hazard!

I am Eret, son of Eret!"

**And so, the main character of the story is finally arrived! Hope you liked the chapter, even if short. Keep with this, and please don't burn at me. Constructive criticism is really accepted, alongside any advice about Grammar and Plot.**

**Thanks again, you are really great!**

**Hiccupisnotuseless**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hope you will like this chapter! Sorry if it is too long!**

**I do NOT own Httyd or its characters; it's all related to Cressida Cowell and DreamWorks.**

**Enjoy the reading!**

**Hiccupisnotuseless**

"Eret, son of Eret?!", Elof **(Scandinavian name) **exclaimed in astonishment.

"_That_ Eret?!", another said.

"The heir of all the Erets?"

"The Dragon Trapper of almost every part of the Archipelago?!", the blond girl in blue clothes said, watching the young Trapper with widened eyes.

Everyone on the other ship looked amazed and terribly at the young Dragon Trapper, murmuring and keeping to watch with an incredible look _him_.

Eret smirked more, and then chuckled softly to himself, rubbing his big chin, on which there were strange blue painted stripes.

Everyone kept to admire him and to murmur incredible things about him.

"He is the real Trapper, without any doubt!", one of the men said.

"I heard he managed to catch a Nadder and a Gronckle making crash them against each other! What a genius!", a girl with brown hair exclaimed.

But not everyone was looking so happy or astonished at the young Trapper. It was like they were meeting the idol of all the dragon hunters … and it was really so, apparently.

"Ok ... I admit you are an amazing expert in the sector ... but this doesn't allow you to take our prey!", was the sudden comment of Roughtooth, who looked really angry at the other ship.

Besides her, her Captain nodded firmly, looking more sternly at Eret.

"She is true! Just because you are a Dragon Trapper of a Very High Level, this doesn't mean you are going to do this!"

Hearing this, the black haired Trapper snorted again.

"I have already said that we were following that Thunderdrum from a long time! And besides, I have also said you could have it, if you'd managed to capture that dragon! But since I have just saved you, you could at least show to be a bit thankful!"

"Who is saying you've just saved us?! Who is saying you didn't lie to us?! I've never heard so much humbugs told all at once!", the brown haired Captain replied, clearly angrier than before.

Eret looked at him more annoyed, but then shook his head huffing.

"What's your name, Captain?"

The brown haired man snorted, and then walked on a barrel near the parapet, putting the hands on the hips, and answered to the other annoying man, looking firmly like a Monstrous Nightmare in front of the enemy.

"I'm Ivar Roggblock, sir! From the tribe of the Sharpened Fists! And this is my crew! We're Dragon Trappers from East! We are known in all this territory because we managed to give our costumers more dragons than they coud ask. And I assure you there are many people who can say I am not exaggerating while I'm saying this! We're trappers, and as such, we do our work in the only way possible, and above all, we always try to be ... _honest_, in any occasion!", he said, crossing his arms authoritatively.

Eret looked at him carefully, from the brown haired head, covered by a long, two horned Viking helmet, to his well built chest covered by a yellow shirt with two vertical blue stripes on it, and then to his well built grey pants and boots.

"I'll say it again! I am a Dragon Trapper too, sir! One of the most famous around here. Until today, we managed to take all the dragons requested by our customers, and we have always did this work in the right way! We respect our fellow Trappers, but we are also honest people. And we are also not stupid! Absolutely! And we can clearly say we Cannot Believe so easily at what you said!", Ivar yelled again, showing more his chest.

Eret looked at him, with his firm look, his brown eyes in the other Captain's own brown eyes. Ivar could say Eret was studying him in a way he didn't like at all; it was giving him more irritation than usual, and he knew that if someone would make him angry in a very big way, that someone would find himself unable to say something so sooner.

Eret kept to watch Ivar without moving, and both of the crews stood there, watching their Captains confused and speechless. This awkard moment was something more than unexpected; it was almost disturbing.

But suddenly, Eret decided to put an end to the show, and huffed again. So he stretched out his right arm, pointing at the Thunderdrum, still asleep on his deck.

Then, he walked near it, under the stern and amazed gazes of the other crew's various members.

Eret stopped near the left side of the Thunderdrum, and then rose the head again. His brown eyes looked again at the crew of Ivar, who stood there, his arms crossed and his eyes firm on what he was watching, making everyone see anger and expectation.

Eret was looking like he was going to return the look; the crew on the other ship looked more interested, when they all saw his lips moving.

Ivar himself looked concerned, his eye widening a bit, and something uncontrollable started to make its way in all his body, like when a cat feels its body shivering, ready to attack.

Ivar felt that shiver reaching the area around his mouth, and his lips were on the point of tremble, and to let something he still couldn't identify out of his mouth.

The brown haired trapper stood so, ready to show something he couldn't stop ... when suddenly all that shivering softened, and his body started to relax, softly and gently, and his mind thought about something less rough, and made him look more curious about what was happening.

On the other boat, one the face of the other trapper near the sleeping dragon, his lips showed a small smirk, and then he stretched out the left arm, that lowered towards the blue scales, and then was retreated back.

After a few seconds, his hand revealed something short, almost invisible, that could be seen just thanks to the little red feathers at the end of it: a little arrow.

Eret's eyes almost sparkled, and he walked again towards the parapet, and swung the short thing front of everyone, with a little sympathetic smile.

Ivar's crew looked more confused and astonished, while the Captain showed a bit more concern in his eyes, feeling new and chaotic thoughts in his mind.

Suddenly, Eret moved his hand, and one of his men nodded, walking away.

After some seconds, he came back, with a long wooden thing in the hands. The man put the end of it on the parapet of Eret's ship, and then put down slowly the wooden gangway.

The other end arrived on the Ivar's parapet.

The brown haired Captain looked at it, and then at Eret. He felt like scared, confused by all what was happening.

"Everything can be cleared soon! I just want to show everything is fine!", the voice of the other Captain echoed in Ivar's eyes.

The young man still didn't look so reassured ... but then something new clicked in his mind ... and so, slowly, he put his foot on it, and slowly and carefully, walked on the gangway.

Ivar arrived on the other ship, and at least jumped on Eret's deck; once his feet touched the wood, he felt an arm around his shoulder, and so he looked up, and was greeted by Eret with his smile.

Ivar blinked, but then his stern look, maybe also more annoyed now, returned on his face and in front of Eret.

The black haired man didn't seem to care that much, and leaded his fellow Captain towards the bow of his ship, where the two stopped in front of a strange wooden machine. It looked like a little cannon, but Ivar knew that it was used in a very different way.

"You know what is this, right?", Eret asked Ivar.

The brown haired Captain looked at the strange thing, watching it carefully.

Then, he rose the head and said:-"Sure, I know it."

Eret nodded smiling, and then walked around the boy slowly, saying:-"Well ... and tell me, since you are surely a good expert of these beauties ... how long are they in this state? Can you tell me from how much time they were used?"

Ivar looked at him with a face empty of emotions, and then his eyes returned on the wooden machines.

They were some of the most important and complicated part of Dragon Trapper ship, and some of the most genial creation in the sector. Thanks to them, people could launch in the air everything they wanted, from harpoons to nets. And more time they were used, more they risked to not work like they should, since the power of the shoot could make the operating principle inefficient, especially if weapons were shoot. For this, Trappers were used to shoot nets most of the time.

But by the look of Eret's cannons, it was clear they were used to shoot something very big like harpoons or anchors, and how much Trappers used them.

"Three days.", Ivar said again.

Eret looked at him, and nodded saying:-"Right."

Ivar found again that smile ... so terribly ... and also ...

"So, since we have made clear you are wrong ... I think we should end here and keep to do our own business ... are you fine with this?", Eret asked, walking around Ivar and then offering him his left hand.

Ivar was going to show again all his hidden emotions, feeling ready to ... but that never came out of him, and so he rose his own hand, shaking it with Eret's.

"Good!", the black haired man said.

"Fine. Anyway, I guess we can let it to you. We have already taken four Thunderdrums this week, and I don't think our costumer really needs one of them.", Ivar said.

Eret looked at him a bit surprised by the phrase, blinking in surprise. Ivar turned behind and walked again on the gangway, to return to his ship.

When he was almost at the half of the long wood, the voice of the other Captain made him turn to look at him again.

"Well ... we don't capture Thunderdrums often. So, I think ... we could make an exchange! Do you want any other type of dragon?"

Ivar blinked the eyes, totally hit by what the other Trapper was saying.

Inside him, the brown haired Captain didn't look so convinced. It could really be a cheat ... since the famous Trapper was doing everything to make Ivar feel like he never wanted to feel.

"Well... yes, I think ... we could could make so ... I mean, we brought almost every time sea dragons, so ..."

"Excellent!", Eret exclaimed, and then jumped towards the centre of the ship, where a metal noise broke out in the air.

And then, three of Eret's men started to take out something from it.

Soon, green and dark red scales came out from the ship, shining a bit due the sunrises.

Ivar and his crew found in front of their eyes a big, totally green with some yellow spines Monstrous Nightmare. And to its right, a dark red with some black scales on his face, under the eyes, Gronckle.

The two were put on the deck with a big iron platform, raised up from the three men with levers.

And their look seemed the same of the Thunderdrum's; asleep like stones; the Nightmare looked like a rabbit trapped by a wolf and resigned; and the Gronckle ... maybe someone could laugh seeing that, since Gronckles loved sleeping all day.

"You can choose, fellows! A great and hot Nightmare ... or a massive and incredibly lethal despite this stupid and lazy look ... Gronckle! Your is the choice!"

Ivar looked really confused at him, and then turned to the dragons.

Behind him, his crew looked really dumbfounded, but while they were talking, they couldn't help to say something that could mean all the admiration towards what they were saying.

"Or, if you want to not exaggerate ...", Eret suddenly said, walking towards another of his men, who handed him something.

The black haired Trapper turned again towards Ivar, and rose the hands, revealing in his right a blue scaled little dragon, and in his left another one, but this time with brown scales.

"Terrible Terrors! Also this could be a good affair, right?", Eret said smirking, raising more the two asleep dragons by the neck, as if he was grabbing two dead chickens.

Ivar looked at his crew, that was still murmuring.

At least, some of them looked at their Captain, with a sort of waiting look.

Ivar opened the mouth to speak, but didn't say anything: he knew very well his crew wanted just one thing; he casted a last look at all of his fellows once again, still with his mouth half opened, and at least sighed.

He turned again towards the other ship, and said, crossing the eyebrows:-"We take the Gronckle."

His crew murmured again, but finally an happy look was appearing on some faces.

Eret smiled again, and then nodded:-"Fine. Men, let's give our fellow Trappers their request. Come on!"

Three of them nodded, and started to work to make sure the Gronckle could arrive on the other boat.

"Wait! We could ask more!", one girl from the Ivar's crew exclaimed.

Ivar turned soon towards her, and soon a stern gaze crossed his face, and the girl, a brown haired young lady around eighteen years with green eyes, and that was wearing a violet shirt with a leather skirt and blue pants and brown boots, slowly lowered, hiding herself behind the wooden parapet, with a red ashamed face.

"What are you saying, Jorunn?! What do you think you are, a lousy profiteer or a honest Dragon Trapper?! How can you say something like this, to a fellow Trapper, besides!"

_"And in a moment like this, you silly girl!"_,he added in his mind.

Jorunn **(Scandinavian name)** hid more the face, blushing nervously more.

Ivar's glare didn't change, while the Captain was tightening more his white teeth.

"Stop, wait! It's fine for us! You can have also one of these Terrors, ok? It's ok, totally! We have other five of these little monsters! Take this without problem!", Günter exclaimed.

Ivar and the crew turned again towards the other ship, and soon one of them grabbed the brown scaled Terror.

Then they looked at the newly smirking Eret, that chuckled softly before walking away towards his men.

"That was ... Amazing!", Elof exclaimed.

"Do you really believe at what happened now?!", another one asked.

"Maybe we could ask him some advices, not just a dragon!", the blond girl wore in blue said.

The crew kept to talk about this for all the afternoon, while the two ships were gently slipping on the sea, towards East.

* * *

Ivar looked the sea from the bow, eyes kept on the sea.

The two ships were both sailing towards the Isle of Harten, where the villagers had asked Ivar to bring them a sturdy and ferocious dragon for their Arena, where they'd use it for the final exams of their young warriors.

The stern look was finally vanished from Ivar's face, but his serious tone was still there.

For some reason, he couldn't like the new atmosphere around him.

There was something that didn't make him sure about his new meeting with the fellow Dragon Trappers.

"Ehy, Ivar! Are you sure our Gronckle was ok for you?", a voice recalled his attention.

The brown haired Trapper looked to his right, and soon found the smirk of Eret from the other ship's bow.

Ivar had to let out a soft sigh (he couldn't help to do it, at least he felt calmer).

"It's all ok, Eret. Everything is totally ok!", Ivar said with a fake grin.

But Eret's expression changed soon, revealing that he had felt something.

"It's not that you think I could have done something annoying, right?", Eret said again.

Ivar blinked, and then huffed a bit stronger.

"Why? I mean, I could have done the same to you, so ..."

"So? This couldn't mean anything.", Eret replied with a more serious look.

Ivar looked again surprised, and his stern look returned again on his face.

"You didn't attack us, so why should I think this?"

"Who says we couldn't do it, man?", Eret replied again.

"Why could you do it?", Ivar replied again.

"Yeah; why?", a deep voice repeated.

And soon after this, Stonebutt appeared behind Ivar, looking seriously at the other ship in the same way of his Captain.

"Well … was there any particular reason? Trappers always help each other; and if I decided to do something so big to you, I surely didn't do it because of boredom or stupidity. A reason is always something a Trapper can have, and it is why there are no big problems in doing something because of that reason."

Ivar looked at him with an uncommon and rough grin, his eyes not stopping to look strangely at the famous and confusing Trapper. Something was telling him to not go too soft with that muscular and charming guy.

"Well, I guess everything is fine, now. Right? Hoping you won't say or think anything ...", Eret started, before being interrupted.

"Why should you do something like attack us, when you took a dragon that is a lot better than the one you gave us?", Ivar asked with a stern look.

"Tell me it! I could say the same!", Eret replied.

"No, I highly doubt it!", Ivar replied, while Stonebutt came back to the others Trappers.

"Then you should try to look more than you usually do, pal!"

"I've already said that! I have a reason to do it! I've learned a long time ago to not judge soon people, especially if they act in a way that could reveal more than I could ignore about them.", Eret said.

Ivar blinked the eyes in surprise hearing this; but before he could say anything, he found himself wordless; too many confusing feelings in his head, not letting him find a proper response.

Before Ivar could talk again, Eret shook his head and walked back towards the centre of his he reached it, he turned again to look at Ivar, and waved him with the hand, revealing again his smirk.

"I have nothing to do here anymore, Ivar Roggblock! Be fine, and keep in this way the work! You know how to do it, I'm sure!

See you!"

Ivar blinked again, and then returned the wave, with a small smile on his face; even if that smile didn't mean any calmness or satisfaction.

**Hope you liked also this!**

**Thanks again for reading!**

**Advices about everything is fine! Please, don't burn at me, just Constructive Criticism is accepted. **

**Hope you all are fine!**

**Sincerely, **

**Hiccupisnotuseless**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for reading. I love you all! I hope you will like this chapter too! From the next, we'll see what is this Precious Opportunity!**

**IMPORTANT NOTE: I'll probably change the final of the chapter to fix it! So probably I'll rewrite it again!**

**For now, Enjoy it,**

**Hiccupisnotuseless**

Ivar huffed again, and then turned behind.

"I don't think he wants to attack us, Ivar! And besides ... he's so cool!", the brown haired girl he scowled before said.

Ivar looked at her, and then sighed again.

"I am not saying this, Jorunn!"

"Then why asking him it?"

"Well, because I don't know what how to make it, but ... I can say that Trapper cannot do just good things like these ... I think he is hiding something ... something stranger inside him."

The brown haired boy rubbed tiredly his eyes with the hand, before talking again to the girl.

"I do not know how to say it, Jor. But ... I am sure that maybe Eret is hiding something from us. I mean ... I feel he can be a person that … that ... there's something … that could make his attitude also ... not so trustworthy."

And kept to think this, putting the chin in his fingers, while his right eye blinked, giving him a very thoughtful look.

"But he's so GORGEOUS! And so ... wonderful!", the girl replied, blinking the eyes dreamily.

Ivar looked confused and strangely at her, and then walked away, leaving Jorunn looking at the other ship with the chin on her fingers, leaning against the parapet.

"Eret, are you sure of what you did?", one of the men asked him.

Eret turned to him, and then kneeled near him, where the said man and other two were watching carefully the Thunderdrum.

"Sure. Dragon Trappers help each other, when they can! And besides ... we can bring something really good now!", he said, nodding at the blue sleeping dragon.

"But we gave away a lazy but always powerful dragon!", the man said confused.

"Yes, but ... _HE _has so much common dragons! _HE_ has too Gronckles, we could give it away without a problem. Besides, did you see what we have here! And about the Terror ... _HE_ cannot have a big problem with it, those are nothing compared to this!", the black haired boy said with a devious smirk.

As his crew watched him, the other trappers tried to smile too at the optimism of their leader.

Eret was always right when he made this type of reasoning with them.

And so, they returned to look at the sea, leading the boat towards east, the sun slowly setting behind them, giving the water a candid and shining red/yellow color.

But despite this calm and wonderful atmosphere, that was marking the end of a long and fruitful day of work, on the ship some of the mariners showed, unnoticed from Eret, a worried and almost frightful sight.

The face of the black haired Trapper looked as always, calm and firm on the water; it was always a good way to show his good qualities, he knew it … but also to hid what he would've called bad qualities; the face in front of everyone showed calmness and proud … but actually it meant something that could make the able Trapper almost sweat 'til he'd be totally dehydrated.

"Come on, pals! With this wind we'll reach it in almost two days. This means, we have to make the work faster.

Make sure this boat shows up with a lot of scales on it, at the point it seemed MADE by scales! Come on, eyes on the water and rocks! NOW!"

And with that, the boat kept its way on the water, and the Trappers knew that even if the sun was setting, they'd never stopped to do what they had the right to do.

"Everything is done, then. And this is the right reward for all your good work. Thanks again, Captain Roggblock.", the man behind the wooden desk said, putting a brown leathered bag on it.

The brown haired Captain took the bag, and then put it in the pocket of his vest, nodding to the other man.

"Hope it will be useful for the young teens, Chief.", Ivar replied with a small smile.

"Well, they need to exercise with every beast we can give them.", was the reply of the tall and thin, but sturdy man, about 40, with a dark green and black vest, and dark leggings and boots.

The Chief stood up, and then spoke again:-"Would you like to see the Arena with me? The kids are exercising right now."

Ivar nodded with a little smile:-"Sure, why not, Chief."

The two walked together out of the Great Hall of the village, and then proceeded towards the Arena, that was behind the Chief's house, on the highest point of the village.

"I can see your village is doing fine, Chief.", Ivar said, looking around him at the various houses.

"Aye, just our classic routine, ya know? Nothing is really changing, if you think about the aspect. Even if we didn't have so many problems to deal with in these last four months.

Our neighbors, the Cranian Tribe, are calm enough, despite that "little trouble" we had with two of them that sneaked in our village during the night. Able warriors, but not so intelligent, ya know? What were they trying to obtain with that, we cannot really understand."

Ivar nodded, careful to not show his lack of interest in these type of situation, which he never really found important for him, since when he left his village five years ago to start his career as a trapper with his crew.

"And also, dragon raids … we strangely found them so … rare! I do not know why, but the dragons … they stopped to visit us. I've never remembered a so long peace in our days. Sure, we know this doesn't mean the end of the problems. And in fact, we don't stay here asleep or immovable."

As the Chief stopped to talk, the two were now arrived at their destination.

The island's Arena wasn't so different from the other villages'; circular, built in stone, with a big roof made of iron barrels that remembered the top of a big cage.

The Chief leaded Ivar on the board above the place, and from there the two could assist to the quotidian training of the younger members of the community of the island.

Ivar looked down on the stolen ground, where the yells and roars of five different voices could be heard.

Five teenagers, three girls and two boys, with different weapons in their hands, were actually practicing in fighting skills.

One of the two boys, a big teenager around 16 who was wearing an aqua-green vest with light brown pants and dark brown boots, and a two horned helmet covering his short black hair, was intent in fighting with a long and very well sharpened sword against a little but resistant mace, held by a brown haired girl around 16 too, who was wearing a yellow fur vest and green leggings and brown boots.

The boy rose the sword, and then hit violently the shield in the hand of the girl, who stepped back slowly, before rising the shield and charging the boy with a loud roar.

"These are our little warriors, very talented and very well trained since when they were 14. They never showed any weakness or wrong step in what they do.

Those two who are fighting right now are two of the best. That boy there is very good with that sword, he's always won the swordfights, really.

The girl he is fighting with is a little stubborn rascal, but also an amazing fighter. She won the last two editions of our Thawfest.

The other boy there …", and pointed his finger towards a boy with black hair, who was wearing a fur brown waistcoat, with a black vest and dark green pants with dark brown boots, and that was watching the duel alongside other two girls, "… is my son. Hilmir **(Icelandic name)**, my heir and hope. Clever, determinate and above all, a careful analyzer, who always watch carefully before saying or doing something, to not cause any trouble. For this, people started to call him "Hilmir the Analyzer". And he doesn't really like it, I have to say, ah ah ah!"

Ivar chuckled hearing this, and looked better at the young teen, who had a very serious and attentive expression on his face, his dark eyebrows curved together as he was carefully inspecting the duel.

"The blond girl wore in blue and green instead is my niece, Oktavia, my late sister's daughter. A very funny girl, but also strong like a boy. She's really close with my son, and I actually have a lot of faith in her. She's a very good shield maiden, but we also hope she'll become a good wife, one day."

Ivar looked at him, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Noticing this, the Chief said:-"No, no! I don't mean with Hilmir, of course! On our island we don't allow this kind of marriage, absolutely."

Ivar nodded in understanding, but turned his head away, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks, and the fear for letting the Chief know something that could be a real offence for someone like him!

"Anyway, also my niece is a good soldier, and a loyal helper for Hilmir. The other girl, instead, is a stubborn and agile little lady that has a great talent with bow and arrows. She is one of the few youngsters we keep with us during hunt trips. A very cool lass, like Oktavia likes to say.", the leader of the village said, looking at the brown haired girl around 17, wore in red and black vest with black leggings, a darker black skirt and other black boots. In her hands, there were a long wooden bow and three arrows.

Ivar looked carefully at the five teens; they seemed so strong, and despite their young age, they seemed to knew all the importance about their hard life.

"I can see it, Chief. They seem pretty sturdy and able. And … about the dragons, how are they?"

The Chief breathed slowly, and then answered his question.

"Aye, the look very able also with the beasts. At the beginning they found serious problems, and my son more than the others. He also risked to lose a leg due a Nadder's spike. But one year after the beginning of dragon training lessons, they all improved very well.

The girl who is fighting, Fox-eyes, she managed to stand the fight with a Gronckle for almost half hour.

Oktavia managed to kill two Terrible Terrors; the boy who is fighting, Mosslegs, managed to stand against a Thunderdrum alongside the girl with a bow, whose name is Sìta.

And Hilmir … he managed to save his uncle from a Hobblegrunt, managing also confuse it and to hit its chest with a spear.

We let them face the monsters every two weeks, after a long training. And also, thanks to you and to your work, we manage to give them different types of beasts, and this helps them to learn about different types of enemies. This makes their body stronger, but also their instincts! Am I right, Captain Roggblock?"

The young Trapper looked at the Chief again, and then nodded with a tired sigh.

"It's the same thing for trappers. Even if, living on the sea and having to be careful every single moment of the day for any troubles, it's like we are always on dragon training."

The Chief nodded.

The two stood silent for a while, watching the training of the kids; finally, the black haired boy had managed to put the brown haired girl on the ground, his sword's blade stuck in the shield of the girl, who was laying completely on the ground, breathing slowly.

"How is your life, when you are out there, seeking for what we never want to find? How is, always looking for monsters like those?"

Ivar's eyes blinked twice, and he turned again towards the other man; he stood there, watching him like a statue.

But then, he sighed again, and on his face there was an almost resigned expression.

"You see … it is always like nothing I can understand completely … I mean, it is a journey not just because we are there, finding new lands and new threats … it is a way … to find new things also about our life … it is a way to understand new things about the most beautiful places … and the most dangerous fears … a way to make us stronger, and to improve more and more … to work hard… to make sure we can stop the other problems the other people have with these problems."

The Chief looked at him for a while, and then nodded at him I understanding.

"Well, that is the life that gives you the steps to better understand it."

Ivar looked at him surprised by the sentence, but then a small smile formed on his face, and his head nodded slowly.

"Well … I hope you and your crew will have a wonderful time on our Island this evening. If you promise me there won't be problems with one of your Trappers …"

"I swear, Chief. No problems. Any problem about anything!", Ivar replied firmly, before the two men turned behind, and headed towards the Great Hall for dinner.

And finally, Ivar's mind seemed to have found a bit of calmness after the irritating event.

Even if this didn't mean he had managed to forget what that particular Trapper had made him feel, all about that negative things.

* * *

The branches broke loudly, as the Trapper stepped back agitatedly. His eyes had never been so big and scared; the dark of the forest now was occupying all his mind, not letting him see anything in any possible way.

His boots crushed other few branches, while his arms kept to swing in terror, making it difficult to keep the sword and the shield.

His small gulps echoed all around, and this made him feel more uncomfortable than before, especially because it came from himself.

His eyes moved from a side to another, and his feet kept to bring him backwards, his mouth keeping to let out small screams of pure terror.

"Mudwaist!", a very loud voice came behind the oaks.

The Trapper looked nervously around, before his black eyes focused on the figure of a tall Trapper, wore like him, that was looking terribly at him with very widened green eyes.

"Mudwaist, COME HERE, NOW!", the other Trapper exclaimed loudly.

Mudwaist breathed faster, his ankles trembling with a worried look.

"Come on, you have to come here!", his companion yelled.

The trembling Trapper let his foot slip on the black ground with a moan.

"HURRY!"

Mudwaist moaned again, and his head turned again to look in front of him.

"_It is coming! IT cannot be possible!"_, his mind screamed.

His eyes looked again towards the rock wall, on which the small bushes and branches were slowly reflecting a shining blue light.

"_It can-…"_

"COME, MUDWAIST!"

The light started to cover all the rock, and was slowly descending towards the ground.

"YOU HAVE TO RUN; YOU CAN MAKE IT!"

The black of the ground was totally being covered by the blue, not letting any dark shade to be noticed anymore.

"MUD! NOW!", the Trapper yelled again.

Mudwaist now didn't feel the strength of his limbs anymore; it was completely disappeared somewhere, as if a stronger and strange force had managed to take it away.

"MUDWAIST, COME!", the Trapper yelled again, his voice trying to almost break the ears of his shaking fellowman.

The light now was all concentrated in a large and glowing blue circle, that kept to move on the ground without following a straight way, occupying almost all the area.

Mudwaist's pupils had totally lost their natural white, that had changed with an unnatural, sparkling blue.

"MUDWAIST, YOU HAVE TO RUN! NOW!"

Mudwaist's body kept to shake, now a bit more than before, while his face all felt wet, as if he was under a waterfall.

And his ears felt like broken glass, in the moment he heard the loud and vibrating noise from the trees in front of him.

"NOW! DO IT! RUN!", his companion yelled again, before letting the poor Trapper hear nothing more than his feet running fastly away from the place.

Mudwaist's eyes kept to look in front of him, while his body kept to shake, this time more violently, slowly making his limbs feel like crumbling rocks.

His eyes slowly started to not stand the power of the blue light, making him blinking several times, and making his brain like it was slipping in all the parts of his body.

Mudwaist finally felt all his limbs stopping, and his conscience got lost in the most unknown parts of the most unknown places.

Nothing could be heard; nothing had to be heard, now. Mudwaist's mouth fell down, revealing nothing more than half moans.

The blue now was also taking the place of his clothes' colors, while his eyes were finding nothing to identify besides the ardent light … that actually was making the poor man to see a dark and black atmosphere about everything he knew.

Mudwaist saw blue again … and felt the incredible feeling ... and his eyes widened in the bigger way they ever did … and his body felt the necessity to expel completely the feeling in his body ... making it clear and lightened … clearer and more lightened like it had never been … in the most unbelievable way.

And as this kept to go on ... all the area around it ... started to _hear _and _feel _everything about it.

**Hope you liked it, please review and say whatever you want, advices or even requests. I'll try to put them in the story!**

**Thanks again, you are all great!**

**Sincerely,**

**Hiccupisnotuseless**


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